Vietnam - Hoi An - The Most Picturesque City Ever - Part Two

Here is the second part to my Hoi An visit. It helps when the sunny weather brings out all the stunning colours of the buildings and lanterns. I loved walking around, snapping away. This is a photographers dream.

The same building looks so different in the day. This is my favourite spot in the whole of Hoi An.

Myself and Julia ventured across one of the bridges, and found this guy making his own lanterns. He allowed us to take photos of him, and so we bought a few as thanks.

We also spotted these two characters on the street. They prey on unsuspecting tourists by placing their goods on shoulders and invite you to take photos. Or even photos of them. They then turn around and ask for money. It happens all over Vietnam, but I thought these two were quite funny.

We went on a bike ride to the outer reaches of the city, and some of us got a boat back. We saw some fantastic fishing nets and a beautiful sunset.

On our last day, some of us decided to get up super early to get some photos of the city waking up. We managed to get there as the markets were starting. Below is a bike with mountains of coriander on the back. The image isn't much, but I can still smell the coriander just by looking at it.

The image below brings back memories of this wee old lady rushing along with two humungous bunches of bananas. It was quite a sight, and I managed to quickly capture it.

Leaving the market we ventured into the city again, which was so peaceful without all the tourists.

The Japanese Bridge for instance was deserted, and so we all got clear shots.

After such an early start, the only thing to keep us going was the Vietnamese coffee. Below is how they would serve it. The yellow liquid is condensed milk, and I became addicted towards the end of our trip. I also ordered the best Eggs Benedict I have ever had.

 The rest of that day was spent in the various tailors having final adjustments made to my clothing. I think by day three we were all happy to leave and see somewhere new. I loved Hoi An, but three days is the absolute maximum anyone should stay!

Vietnam - Hoi An - The Most Picturesque City Ever - Part One

Hoi An is perhaps one of the most beautiful places I have visited, certainly my favourite in Vietnam. They have managed to preserve the historic buildings and this allows the visitor to gain an insight into what life would have been like in the past. It is so picturesque and vibrant, and so I found myself taking an obscene amount of photos, which is why this blog is in two parts.

This is where all the lanterns are made, and there are thousands along the streets. So many colours, shapes and sizes.

We were taken to the tourist information place where we had to buy a pass to allow us to enter into the old city. It seemed only Westerners had to pay this price and were the only people being checked, but as long as I could see the old city I didn't care too much.

Hungry stomachs called for breakfast, and Ha took us for a quick orientation tour.

Straight after breakfast we headed to the tailors. Hoi An is famous for producing high quality made to measure suits and clothing. I wanted to get a blazer for interviews for Sydney, and so Yaly seemed the perfect place to do that. My tailor was called Nicola, although that is her English name. I can't remember her real name, but she was very lovely.

A few of us decided to make use of the pass and visit some of the places on it. This took us up some side streets. It is amazing what you come across when you get away from the main tourist spots!

This was a private memorial to the ancestors of one family. It was very grand, and it turned out the founder of it came from a Naval background.

White Rose is a Hoi An specialty dish - basically shrimp dumplings.

Myself, Angela and Jo decided to go on a boat tour and see some more of the outskirts of the city. We ended up in this fishing port.

This spot is always photographed. It changes throughout the day, and this one is of early evening.

Bale Well was recommended to us via the Lonely Planet, and it did not disappoint! The meat eaters in the group were treated to an amazing feast of spring rolls. The funniest part was the owner and her waitresses who continuously brought out food, and made the rolls for the boys and shoved it in their mouths, despite their protests. The food was so yummy and we all had a fun night with the owner. We eventually convinced her we had eaten far too much and then mango and chocolate pots came out. One of the best meals of the trip!

Part two - Coming soon!

NB - Finding it difficult to get decent wifi and spare time to keep writing my blog, not so easy when I keep travelling! Now I am settling in Sydney so going to make an effort to stay on top of it from now on!